Dispensing device for tilting container



June 7, 1966 J. c. BRENEMAN 3,254,809

DISPENSING DEVICE FOR TIL'IING CONTAINER Filed Nov. 12, 1964 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 .une 7, 1966 J. c. BRENEMAN DISPENSING DEVICE FOR TILTING CONTAINER 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed NOV. 12, 1964 INVENTOR. fA/l/[f C fiicWf/MA/V A 770/0144 VJ United States Patent 3,254,809 DISPENSING DEVICE FOR TILTING CONTAINER James C. Breneman, Comstock Township, Kalamazoo County, Mich. (10571 Miller Drive, Galesburg, Mich.) Filed Nov. 12, 1964, Ser. No. 410,648 Claims. (Cl. 222-442) V This invention relates in general to a device for dispensing fluids from a container and, more particularly, to a dispensing device which can be 'removably mounted upon a container for receiving a predetermined amount of liquid from said container and thereafter discharging same without spilling the liquid remaining in the container.

Persons acquainted with the problems of dispensing liquids, such as liquid medicines, have long recognized the need for an inexpensive, sanitary and eflicient device for discharging a selected amount of the liquid from a container. Inthe usual procedure, as where liquid medicines are concerned, the top is removed from the container and a portion of the liquid is poured from the container into a spoon or the like, so that said portion of medicine can be placed in a patients month. However, it is well known that this procedure is inconvenient, frequently wasteful, and often results in an inaccurate dosage. Moreover, when medicine is administered in this manner, the entire amount in the container is exposed to contamination by ambient air, by human handling and even by foreign objects.

It was discovered that the foregoing problems could be overcome by providing an inexpensive receptacle or receiver which could be adapted for mounting upon the container, such as a bottle, and arranged for receiving a selected or selectable amount of liquid from the bottle simply by moving the bottle from its normal storage position into another position. Thereafter, the liquid in the receiver could be discharged by moving the bottle into a third position, or even back into its original position.

Accordingly, the objects and purposes of this invention have been:

(1) To provide a dispensing device capable of being mounted upon a container, such as a bottle, adjacent the neck or other opening therein for the purpose of receiving from said container a selected or selectable amount of liquid therefrom and thereafter discharging the amount of liquid into the mouth of a patient, for example,'without spilling the remaining liquid from the container and without contaminating such remaining liquid.

(2) To provide a dispensnig device, as aforesaid, which can be easily mounted upon the container, which can be reused with new or refilled containers and which can be easily cleaned and sterilized if the need should arise.

(3) To provide a dispensing device, as aforesaid, which can be made inexpensively from inexpensive materials, such as glass or plastic, Which is susceptible to manufacture in a variety of sizes and shapes, which can be adapted for mounting on a variety of containers having various types of openings therein and which can be made substantially airtight, so that the contents of the receiver, as well as the container, will not be contaminated during periods of nonuse.

Other objects and purposes of this invention will become apparent to persons familiar with this type of equip- 3,254,809 Patented June 7, 1966 ment upon reading the following specification and examining the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a broken, side elevational view of a container having said dispensing device of the invention mounted thereon.

FIGURE 2 is a sectional view taken along the lines 11-11 in FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 3 is a sectional view taken along the lines IIIII-I in. FIGURE 2.

FIGURE 4 is a discharge end elevational view of the dispensing device.

FIGURE 5 is a fragmentary side elevational view of the discharge end of said dispensing device in the open position.

FIGURE 6 is a sectional view similar to that shown in FIGURE 3 with the dispensing device in the receiver filling position. 1

FIGURE 7 is a discharge end elevational view of a modified dispenser embodying the invention.

FIGURE 8 is a sectional view taken along the lines VIIIVIII in FIGURE 7.

FIGURE 9 is a sectional view taken along the lines IXIX in FIGURE 8.

FIGURE 10 is a fragment of the receiver in said modified dispensing device as viewed from the cutting line X--X in FIGURE 9.

FIGURE 11 is a fragment of FIGURE 8 showing a further modification of the dispensing device of the invention.

FIGURE 12 is a fragment of FIGURE 3 showing a modified discharge end.

For the purpose of convenience in description, the terms upper, lower and words of similar import will have reference to the container, /with which the dispensing device of the invention is used, as said container appears in FIGURES 1, 3 and 7. The terms top or discharge and bottom, as used herein, will have reference to the receiver of the dispensing device as appearing in FIGURE 6. The terms inner, outer and derivatives thereof will have reference to the geometric center of the dispenser and parts thereof.

General construction sidewall of the receiver at points preferably spaced from g each other while still communicating with the opening in-the container when the fastening means is secured thereto. The two conduit means are arranged so that movement of the bottle from its storage position toward or into a second position will cause liquid to flow from the container through one of the conduit means into the receiver. At the same time, air moves from the receiver through the other conduit means into the container. The filling operation may be automatically or manually stopped by the dispenser, after which the container is moved to a different position to discharge the liquid from the receiver.

Detailed description The dispenser (FIGURES 1 and 3) which illustrates a preferred embodiment of the invention, is comprised of an elongated receiver 11 which is attachable to the neck 12 of the bottle 13, for example, by means of a cap -14 integral with the sidewall 16 of the receiver 11. The cap 14 is preferably about midway between the top or discharge end 17 and the bottom Wall 18 of the receiver.

The receiver 11 (FIGURES 3 and 6) may be fabricated from a substantially rigid material, such as glass, or a semirigid, resiliently flexible material, such as plastic. The cap 14 is provided with internal threads 21 eng-ageable in a conventional manner with threads 22 on the neck '12 of the bottle 13. The upper end wall 23 of the cap 14 may be attached to, or an integral part of, the sidewall 16 of the receiver 11.

A first conduit 24 extends through the end wall 23 of the cap 14 preferably at a point as close as conveniently possible to the bottom wall 18 of the receiver 11 while still communicating with the opening 26 in the bottle neck 12 when the cap 14 is mounted thereon. The outer end 27 of the first conduit 24 is preferably flush with the lower side of the end wall 23. The first conduit 24 extends up- Wardly and sidewardly from the end wall 23 toward the bottom wall 18 of the receiver 11, and the inner end 27 of the conduit 24 is preferably spaced from the bottom wall 18 only far enough to permit the free flow of liquid through the inner end 27 of said first conduit. The size of the passageway 29 through the first conduit 24 will depend upon the type and amount of liquid which the dispenser 10 is designed to handle.

A second conduit 32 extends through the end wall 23 of the cap 14 at a point spaced from the outer end 27 of the first conduit 24 diametrically across the cap 14 and as close to the discharge end 17 of the receiver as the neck 12 and the cap 14 permit. The inner portion of the second conduit 32 is preferably curved toward the bottom wall 18 of the receiver 11 through an arc of approximately 90 so that the inner end 33 thereof opens toward the bottom wall 18. The distance between the inner end 33 and the bottom wall 18 is preferably prearranged so that, as shown in FIGURE 6, the inner end 33 of the second conduit 32 becomes immersed in said liquid when a predetermined amount of liquid 34 is received into the bottom end of the receiver 11 through the first conduit 24. Such immersion seals the container and thereby terminates the flow of liquid from the container 13 into the receiver 11, due .to the vacuum that would be created in the container.

The outer end 35 of the second conduit 32 preferably extends through the neck 12 and into the bottle 13 so that said end 35 is above the liquid level, as shown in FIGURE 6, when the liquid is moving from the bottle 13 into the receiver 11 through the first conduit 24. In some types of containers, it may be necessary to curve the outer end portion of the second conduit 32 substantially in the direction of the discharge end 17 of the receiver 11 in order to reach a point above, or at least near to, the liquid level in the container when the liquid is being transferred from the container to the receiver. In such case, it will be advantageous to fabricate the second conduit 32, or at least the outer portion thereof, from a resiliently flexible material so that it can be bent as it is inserted through the neck 12 during the process of mounting the cap 14 thereon.

In most instances it will be desirable to fabricate the receiver 11, the cap 14and the conduits 24 and 32 from transparent, or at least translucent, the materials in order to follow visually the performance of the dispenser. However, coloring may be used effectively to indicate partial dosages or to confirm a full dosage, particularly where the liquid is somewhat viscose.

Also, visible lines 41 may be permanently placed in the sidewall 16 of the receiver 11 to indicate dosage quantities.

A control opening 36 is provided in the sidewall 16 of the receiver 11 preferably between the inner end. 33 of the second conduit 32 and the discharge end 17 of the receiver 11. Where the receiver 11 is fabricated from substantially rigid material, the discharge end 17 thereof may be covered by a resiliently flexible, elongated closure member 37 :having 'a substantially hemispherical end 38 with a normally closed, substantially semicircular slit therein. The slit 39 preferably lies substantially within -a plane extending along the centerline of the receiver 11. The slit 39 can be opened, as shown in FIGURES 4 and 5, by urging the opposite ends 42 and 43 of said slit (FIG- URE 4) toward each other. When the pressure is released, the slit automatically returns to its closed position. When the slit 39 is open and when the discharge end of the receiver is in a position lower than the rest of the receiver, the flow of liquid from the receiver can be controlled by placing a finger over the control opening 36 (FIGURE 3) in the sidewall of the receiver 11.

FIGURE 12 shows a modified structure including a receiver 46 which may be substantially identical with the receiver 11 except that the discharge end 47 is relatively small and is not covered by a closure member, such as the closure member 37 in FIGURE 3. However, the flow of liquid from the modified receiver 46, due to the relatively small size of the discharge end 47, can be easily controlled by placing a finger over the control opening 48 in the sidewall of the receiver.

Operation As evident from the foregoing description, the dispenser 10 is designed so that it is easily adaptable to mounting upon a substantially conventional type of container. That is, the screw cap 14 on the dispenser can be mounted upon the neck 12 of a bottle 13, after the second conduit 32 has been inserted into the neck, in a substantially conventional and normal manner. Such attachment can be effected with the container in its upright position of FIG- URE 3. When it becomes desirable to removean amount of liquid from the bottle 13, said bottle is rotated in a clockwise direction, as appearing in FIGURES 1 and 3, into its receiver filling position of FIGURE 6. If the bottle is relatively full of liquid, such rotation can be advantageously stopped after a movement of from 45 to 60. This ensures movement of air from within the receiver 11 through the second conduit 32 into the bottle 13 without material obstruction by the liquid in the bottle. The precise attitude of the bottle 13 will have no material effect upon the dosage discharged into the receiver, since the inner end 33 of the second conduit 32 is preferably located along the central axis of the receiver. That is, immersion of the inner end 33 of the second conduit 32 will occur when the selected dosage has been transferred whether the receiver is in its vertical position of FIGURE 6 or is tilted from such position.

As the bottle 13 and dispenser 10 are rotated clockwise, as aforesaid, liquid will move from the bottle 13 into the receiver 11 through the first conduit 24. This flow will occur even though the control opening 36 is closed because the amount of liquid removed from the bottle 13 through the first conduit 24 will be replaced by an equal volume of air moving from the receiver 11 through the second conduit 32 into the bottle 13. However, as soon as the level of liquid in the receiver 11 rises to the inner end 33 of the second conduit 32, said inner end 33 will be closed and thereby block the movement of air from the receiver through the second conduit into the bottle. Since any further attempt to remove liquid from the bottle 13 would result in the creation of a vacuum within the bottle, such turther fiow is effectively terminated through the first conduit 24 or, for that matter, through the second conduit 32, even if an attempt were made to cause such a flow.

The liquid disposed within the receiver 11 can be discharged therefrom through the opened slit 39 in the closure member 37 either by rotating the bottle 13 counterclockwise back through, and then somewhat beyond, its

FIGURE 3 position so that said receiver slopes-downwardly toward the closure member 37. Thereafter, by pinching the opposite sides of the closure member 37between .the thumb and forefinger, for example, the liquid within the receiver 11 is permitted to flow through the slit 39. The discharge of such liquid can be controlled by placing the finger over the control opening 36 in the side- Wall 16.

Alternatively, the liquid in the receiver 11 can be discharged therefrom by rotating the bottle 13, while it is in its FIGURE 6 position, around the central lengthwise axis of the bottle, in either direction, until the closure membet-37 is the lowermost part of'the dispenser. The slit 39 is then pinched open, as described above, for the purpose of releasing the liquid from the receiver. After discharge of the liquid from the receiver, the bottle 13 can be promptly returned to its position of FIGURE 3 for storage until further use is required. Additional dosages can be removed from the bottle 13 by repeating the above-mentioned clockwise movement followed by either a counterclockwise movement or rotational movement of the bottle 13.

Modified structure The modified dispenser s1 FIGU-RES 7' and s is, generally speaking, similar to the dispenser 10 of FIG- URE 1. That is, dispenser 51 has an elongated receiver 52 which is connectible to the neck 12a of a bottle 13a by means of a cap 53 which is integral with the sidewall 54 of the receiver. The dispenser 51 has a first conduit 56 which may be similar to the first conduit 24, and a second conduit -57 which extends through the cap 53 and may be similar to the second conduit 32. However, the inner end 8 of the second conduit 57 communicates with ambient air through an opening 59 in the sidewall 54 preferably on the opposite side thereof from the cap 53. A control opening 61 is provided in the sidewall 54 between the opening 59 and the bottom wall 62 of the receiver 52. In this particular embodiment, the opening 59 and the control opening 61 are near to each other and selectively covered by a single cover plate 63, which is slidea-bly held upon and against the sidewall 54 by the guide rail structure 64. Projections 66 (FIGURES 8 and 9) extend inwardly from the inner surface of the plate 63 so that they can project into the openings 59 and 6 1 when they are covered by said plate 63. Thus, the projections 66 serve as detent means to oppose accidental movement of the plate 63 away from its closed position. This arrangement prevents contamination and/ or evaporation or other escape of the contents of the bottle 16a and the receiver 52 when they are not in use.

The receiver 52 (FIGURE 8) is preferably fabricated from a resiliently flexible plastic so that the rounded tip of the discharge end 67 can be provided with a slit 68 corresponding to the slit 39 in the closure member 37. The slit 68 can be opened to release liquid from the re ceiver 52 by pinching the opposite ends of the slit to gether.

In the fragmentary showing of FIGURE 11, the receiver 7|1 has an integral stopper 72 which is snugly but slideably receivable into the opening in the neck 73 of a bottle 74. The first conduit 76 and second conduit 77 extend through the stopper 72 in the same manner, in the same relative arrangement and for the same purposes .as the first conduit 24 and second conduit 32 extend through the end wall 23 of the cap 14. Aside from the specific foregoing difference in the fastening means between the receiver 7 1 and the bottle 74, the remaining structure of the receiver 71 may be identical with that of the receiver 11 or the receiver 52.

The operation of the modified dispenser 51 may be substantially the same as that set forth above with respect to position of FIGURE 8, liquid will not flow from the container 13a into the receiver 52 regardless of the position of the'bottle 13a. This is due to the fact that no air can get into the bottle 16a through the second conduit 57 to replace the liquid removed firom the bottle through the first conduit 56. When the cover plate 63 is in its open position of FIGURE 9 and the assembled unit is in a position substantially as shown in FIGURE 6, the flow of liquid from the bottle 13a into the receiver 52 can be [accurately controlled by manually controlling the amount of air moving into the open end 58 of the second conduit 57. When the desired amount of liquid has flowed through the first conduit 56 into thereceiver 52, such flow can be easily stopped by covering the opening 59, as with a finger or with the cover plate 63.

Although particular preferred embodiments of the invention have been disclosed above for illustrative purposes, it will be recognized that variations or modifications of such disclosure, which come within the scope of the appended claims, are fully contemplated.

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows:

1. A dispensing device for a container having an opening, comprising:

' a receiver having wall means and a port through which said liquid can be discharged; means on said receiver spaced from said port for connecting said receiver to said container adjacent said opening whereby said opening is covered; first conduit means extending through said wall means adjacent said connecting means, the inner end of said first conduit means being disposed within said receiver and remote from said port, the ,outer end of said first conduit means being located between said inner end thereof and said port;

second conduit means extending through said Wall means at a point located between and spaced from said first conduit means and said port, the inner end of said second conduit means being located at a point between and spaced from the inner end of said first conduit means and said port, the outer ends of said first and second conduit means communicating with said container when said fastening means is secured thereto; and

an opening in said wall means between the inner end of said first conduit means and said port.

2. A device according to claim 1 wherein the inner end of said second conduit means extends toward said inner end of said first conduit means and is spaced ther from a selected distance less than the distance between said inner end or said first conduit means and said opening in said wall means; and

wherein said port is covered by a resilient cap having a normally closed slit therein capable of being opened by manually pressing the opposite ends of said slit toward each other.

'3. A device according to claim 1 wherein said fastening means is an internally threaded and outwardly opening cap integral with said wall means and capable of snug reception upon the neck of a container into which the outer end of said second conduit means is received; and

wherein said receiver and fastening means are fabricated from substantially rigid material.

4. A device according to claim 1 wherein said receiver is fabricated from a resiliently flexible, semirigid material;

wherein said port is a substantially semicircular slit in the wall means of said receiver and lies substantially within a plane extending lengthwise through said receiver, said slit being opened by applying pressure to said wall means adjacent the opposite ends of said slit; and

wherein said second conduit means extends completely through said receiver means and communicates at its inner end with atmosphere at a point on said wall means opposite from said fastening means.

5. The stmucture of claim 4 wherein said opening in said wall means is located between the inner end of said second conduit means and the inner end of said first conduit means; and

including cover means fior simultaneously and selectively closing said opening in said wall means and the inner end of said second conduit means.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,009,550 11/1911 Moyset a1 222456X 5 2,584,130 2/1952 Huehl et a1. 222-455 FOREIGN PATENTS 692,044 8/1964 Canada.

10 LOUIS J. DEMBO, Primary Examiner.

HA-DD 5. LANE, Examiner. 

1. A DISPENSING DEVICE FOR A CONTAINER HAVING AN OPENING, COMPRISING: A RECEIVER HAVING WALL MEANS AND A PART THROUGH WHICH SAID LIQUID CAN BE DISCHARGED; MEANS ON SAID RECEIVER SPACED FROM SAID PORT FOR CONNECTING SAID RECEIVER TO SAID CONTAINER ADJACENT SAID OPENING WHEREBY SAID OPENING IS COVERED; FIRST CONDUIT MEANS EXTENDING THROUGH SAID WALL MEANS ADJACENT SAID CONNECTING MEANS, THE INNER END OF SAID FIRST CONDUIT MEANS BEING DISPOSED WITHIN SAID RECEIVER AND REMOTE FROM SAID PORT, THE OUTER END OF SAID FIRST CONDUIT MEANS BEING LOCATED BETWEEN SAID INNER END THEREOF AND SAID PORT; SECOND CONDUIT MEANS EXTENDING THROUGH SAID WALL MEANS AT A POINT LOCATED BETWEEN AND SPACED FROM SAID FIRST CONDUIT MEANS AND SAID PORT, THE INNER END OF SAID SECOND CONDUIT MEANS BEING LOCATED AT A POINT BETWEEN AND SPACED FROM THE INNER END OF SAID FIRST CONDUIT MEANS AND SAID PORT, THE OUTER ENDS OF SAID FIRST AND SECOND CONDUIT MEANS COMMUNICATING WITH SAID CONTAINER WHEN SAID FASTENING MEANS IS SECURED THERETO; AND AN OPENING IN SAID WALL MEANS BETWEEN THE INNER END OF SAID FIRST CONDUIT MEANS AND SAID PORT. 